美国国家公共电台 NPR--Wis. lawmakers reintroduce bill preventing non-dairy products being labeled as milk

Wis. lawmakers reintroduce bill preventing non-dairy products being labeled as milk

Transcript¹

There's been a long battle over which products should be called milk. The FDA aims to clear up any confusion, but dairy farmers say they don't need a federal agency making their life even harder.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

The Food and Drug Administration is weighing in on the long-running battle over whether plant-based alternatives to dairy milk can use the term milk. The FDA suggests milk can be used broadly. But in places like Wisconsin, where the number of dairy farms is in decline, farmers say the federal government is making life harder. Chuck Quirmbach of member station WUWM in Milwaukee reports.

CHUCK QUIRMBACH, BYLINE²: Producers of plant-based beverages⁴ have been trying to gain a bigger market share for years. In 2006, the company Silk even dressed an actor in a cow costume for its commercial, promoting what it calls soy milk.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: And I said, it's healthy. Listen. I get it. I'll drink it. OK?

QUIRMBACH: Sales of dairy milk still dominate the market, but there's an ever-growing list of plant extract beverages labeled as milk. And in grocery stores, almond milk, oat milk, even hemp⁵ milk are among them. Now the Food and Drug Administration says it aims to clear up any confusion over plant-based foods that are marketed and sold as alternatives to milk. Part of the agency's proposed guidance allows the continued use of the word milk. It says consumers generally understand that plant-based alternatives do not contain milk.

(SOUNDBITE OF COWS MOOING)

QUIRMBACH: There are 250 black and white Holsteins that produce milk at the Double Dutch Dairy near Cedar⁶ Grove⁷, Wis., about an hour north of Milwaukee. Owner Brody Stapel is also president of the board of the Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative. He says calling plant-based beverages milk is bothersome.

BRODY STAPEL: You know, we're not at all advocating that people can't have soy milk. I mean, people can have choices, you know? But where we hesitate is when you call it milk. My wife is from Canada. In Canada in the dairy aisle⁸, it's almond beverage³. It's soy beverage. There is no almond milk. We know that there's people that can't have lactose, that are intolerant to dairy. But they need to call it what it is.

QUIRMBACH: But Tanner Johnson, who grows soybeans on his Wisconsin farm, says plant-based alternatives should continue to be labeled milk. He's on the boards of the Wisconsin and American Soybean Associations and points to another part of the FDA proposal, which recommends labels include voluntary nutrient⁹ statements.

TANNER JOHNSON: We're not trying to replace the dairy milk product. It's just our own unique product. And I think there's a lot of opportunity for consumer transparency and education. And a voluntary nutrient statement is a good thing.

QUIRMBACH: Many Wisconsin politicians, including Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, side with the state's 6,500 remaining dairy farmers.

TAMMY BALDWIN: Yeah. The Biden administration's FDA rule that allows nondairy products to use dairy names - in my mind, it's just wrong.

QUIRMBACH: Baldwin and a bipartisan group of a half-dozen other lawmakers have also reintroduced the Dairy Pride Act that would prevent nondairy products from being labeled with dairy terms. But Madeline Cohen of the nonprofit Good Food Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank, is no fan of that legislation.

MADELINE COHEN: The Dairy Pride Act is really just an anti-competitive bill that's meant to protect the conventional dairy industry at the expense of innovative¹⁰ plant-based milk producers.

QUIRMBACH: If the Dairy Pride measure fails again, Wisconsin's Baldwin says this year's farm bill is another venue¹¹ where lawmakers will make their case that milk comes from cows, not plants. For NPR News, I'm Chuck Quirmbach in Milwaukee.

(SOUNDBITE OF THURSTON MOORE SONG, "BREATH")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

4 beverages   

n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 控制酒类销售的法规
• regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 含酒精饮料的销售管理条例

5 hemp   

n.大麻；纤维

参考例句：

• The early Chinese built suspension bridges of hemp rope.古代的中国人建造过麻绳悬索桥。
• The blanket was woven from hemp and embroidered with wool.毯子是由亚麻编织，羊毛镶边的。

6 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

7 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

8 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

9 nutrient   

adj.营养的，滋养的；n.营养物，营养品

参考例句：

• Magnesium is the nutrient element in plant growth.镁是植物生长的营养要素。
• The roots transmit moisture and nutrient to the trunk and branches.根将水分和养料输送到干和枝。

10 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

11 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。